Violation of contract, letting agent wants to charge rent until new tenant found.

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EDIT: just as an aside, if they do serve an s8 and get a possession order from the court, are we then liable for any court fees?

It is possible that the judge may award court costs against you, as you have broken a clear term of the tenancy agreement, and the landlord is entitled to challenge you on that.

To lower the chance of this happening, I would write to the landlord at the address given for him/her on your tenancy agreement, stating that you will be leaving at the end of your fixed term, and you will make sure that if any damage was to occur, you will put it right before you leave.

Make it clear that this will be your defence to any action, and will use this letter as evidence why you will dispute any costs that he may try and ask the court for.

To lower the chance of this happening, I would write to the landlord at the address given for him/her on your tenancy agreement, stating that you will be leaving at the end of your fixed term, and you will make sure that if any damage was to occur, you will put it right before you leave.

Make it clear that this will be your defence to any action, and will use this letter as evidence why you will dispute any costs that he may try and ask the court for.

Yes, and OP could also offer to surrender the tenancy early.

[EDIT: I'd also mention that the agent refused to pass on the request for permission to keep pets to the LL]

So we just went to the office of the estate agents, more or less forced them to contact the LL (they refused to do so about 5 times before caving). LL refused permission, so we were once again told "Get rid of the cats or get out" (we have requested the refusal in writing).

Doesn't really change anything, though they did explicitly mention the possibility of serving notice this time. I did bring up the possibility of leaving amicably if they were to waive the requirement to pay the rent until a new tenant is found, though this was point blank refused.

Frankly at this point, even if there are court fees charged with the possession order somehow, provided they are less than £500, we come out financially better by sitting and waiting for the possession order to come. The only caveat to that is that ending the tenancy via a possession order definitely invalidates the requirement of paying rent until a new tenant is found.

If the LL obtains a possession order and a bailiff enforces it, the tenancy ends when the bailiff enforces the order. No tenancy, no liability for rent.

I would still advise writing to the LL as suggested above. Keep copy letter. It seems rather pointless to apply for a possession order when he has the option of agreeing a surrender instead, so it might well help to persuade the court not to order you to pay costs.